Thank you!

Thank you for all the support you've given the Climbing Rose Young Adult line of The Wild Rose Press. Our stories are still available on The Wild Rose Press website, however, since we aren't publishing new stories, our blog is no longer active. We thank you again for the time you spent with us and invite you to visit our Climbing Rose bookstore.

When we started counting down crushes this week to celebrate the release of The Stillburrow Crush by Linda Kage, I mentioned that one of my favorite crushes is not actually a movie although it started out as one--it's from the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which was originally a movie, and for some reason, even though I've seen every episode of the TV series, I've never seen the movie. Figure that one out!).

The TV series has been referred to as one of the best of all time and--with the exception of some unpleasantly dark episodes in the sixth season--I have to say I agree. And much as I loved the romance of Buffy and Angel together (Buffy and Riley, not so much) my favorite story line in the series had to be the hopeless crush Spike had on Buffy.

In my favorite episode, Fool for Love, Buffy is wounded by a vampire which starts her brooding about her own mortality. Concerned, she seeks out Spike, the platinum-haired vampire who is famous for having killed two slayers, to ask him about it. In recounting the stories, Spike reveals not only his past confrontations, but his present feelings for Buffy--which is more than Buffy wants to hear and she spurns him cruelly.

I think what I love most about Spike is that although he's a thoroughly appalling character--a monster, really--he's also snarky, humorous, unapologetic, and, oh-by-the-way, total eye candy! And underneath it all--as is revealed at the end of Fool for Love--there is compassion and the soul of a poet. It's no wonder Spike is on Poptimal's list of Ten T.V.Characters We'll Never Forget.

Spike's crush does not remain completely hopeless--he and Buffy have their moments--but ultimately, his is a hopeless (and hugely romantic) crush, which is why it comes in at number two on my all-time list.

Got a favorite crush (movie or TV)? Leave us a comment and tell us about it! And be sure to check back next week when we'll be posting YOUR crush stories and asking everyone to vote on them!